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The growing instability in labour markets, restructuring and downsizing workforce, precariatization and staff flexibilization underlie the increasing importance of a psychological contract and employees’ confidence in their employer in modern labour relations. The study aims to explore the role of trust and psychological contract in HR management at an enterprise. The methodological basis includes psychological contract theory and the concept of transition contract. Using the results of an annual sociological survey performed in five countries with different models of economic development (Russia, Сzech, Latvia, Pakistan and Italy), the authors try to identify the similarities and differences of these countries regarding the way in which the existing conditions of employee-employer relationships influence the fulfilment of explicit and latent aspects of a psychological contract. We identify the major reasons behind mismatches between employees’ and employers’ expectations that cause mistrust, uncertainty and erosion of labour relations. Empirical data obtained in 2015–2017 during the survey of employees in various economic sectors allow us to draw a conclusion about the multiplicity of forms of a psychological contract breach, to conduct a comparative analysis of the trends prevailing in the countries under consideration, as well as to identify their similar and distinctive features. The authors are certain that managers should understand the significance of trust and a psychological contract in HR management and take it into consideration when developing a human resource management strategy.

The topic of optimizing capital structure is very important for a company to work efficiently and reliably. It is important for every company to optimize everything so that they have the highest possible efficiency. Entrepreneurs also try to make this optimization last them as long as possible. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to determine the optimal capital structure of an agricultural company operating in the Czech Republic. The base source of data is the closing data of individual agricultural companies from the Albertina database of Bisnode. More than 9,000 agricultural enterprises operating in the given sector of the national economy in the Czech Republic are recorded in this data set. The calculation of the WACC method and the level of debt of individual agricultural companies are used. Subsequently, the equation for calculating the cost of capital is determined using power regression. Here we also obtain the value of reliability, which in this particular case is not ideal, but still reasonable. A line chart is used to determine the optimal interval for the agricultural company. The optimal debt interval comes out to 20 to 25%, at which the cost of capital is declared to be from 22 to 24%. If agricultural companies had higher or lower debt ratios, it would be inefficient for the enterprise.

Research background: Globalization and digitalization of society are leading to fundamental alterations in the labour sphere. Global trends and turbulent times are changing the work environment, stipulating the emergence of new forms of labour relations and employment models. Thinking on the on-going transformation processes requires a monitoring study of new phenomena, as well as the creation of a knowledge system about the directions and prospects of human resources management and labour relations development. Purpose of the article: The article presents the interim results of the current monitoring changes in labour relations conducted by the international research team members. The empirical data obtained are considered in the context of the social and cultural features of respondents from different countries that contributes to a deeper understanding of the phenomena under study. Methods: In 2020, the authors carried out a sociological survey involving employees of enterprises operating in various sectors of the economy in the Russian Federation, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Turkey and Kazakhstan. The total number of respondents formed by random sampling is amounted to 1138 people. For the purpose of a comprehensive typology of the surveyed workers from different countries, a cluster analysis of the collected data was carried out. Findings & Value added: A comparative analysis of the sociological survey results reflects the trends in work transformation and labour relations that have developed under the Covid-19 pandemic. Cross-cultural analysis reveals the impact of social and cultural factors on respondents’ assessment and companies’ human resource management practices.

Research background: The paper uses labor economics and career theory to design an integrative approach to career research focusing on new occupations and career development. Purpose of the article: The purpose of this paper is to call for an integrative approach to career research aiming to characterize labor market trends and discuss perspectives on careers using highly skilled migrants from Central and Eastern Europe as a case. The paper discusses the specificity of career development in the context of the Industry 4.0. and an integrative approach vs. other approaches. Methods: The methodology insists on several ways that enable a triangular analysis. The research combines in-depth-analysis of bibliographic data in the Web of Science database, unstructured interviews with top managers/co-owners of multinational companies in August and September 2020 as a base for writing two narrative cases. Findings & Value added: Findings show the tendency of career theory to provide a narrow view of a career. They highlight the trends in considering the wide variety of career situations, which results from the fact that careers locate in time and space. The paper provides examples to explore career differences better and seek for alternative explanations to career experiences. Because career dynamics are influenced by individual characteristics and career development practices, a more integrative approach to career research must address the complexity of labor markets. The added value is to encourage discussions about career theory focusing on a wide range of issues.

The paper characterizes the state-of-the-art knowledge of sustainable human resource management (HRM) based on on-the-desk analysis of articles in the Web of Science database published in the last two years in journals in Q1 and Q2. In the literature, sustainable HRM is considered an extension of strategic HRM with a focus on long-term human resource development, regeneration, and renewal. The current focus has been on economic, environmental aspects in HR processes, and it turns out that social sustainability remains on the edge of HR managers´ interests. The situation in the Czech environment illustrates two narrative cases from March and April 2020. It becomes a challenge for all actors in education to change their view of ways of education and to accept as a necessity to apply distance education on a mass scale.

i-Motif (iM) is a four stranded DNA structure formed by cytosine-rich sequences, which are often present in functionally important parts of the genome such as promoters of genes and telomeres. Using electronic circular dichroism and UV absorption spectroscopies and electrophoretic methods, we examined the effect of four naturally occurring DNA base lesions on the folding and stability of the iM formed by the human telomere DNA sequence (C3TAA)3C3T. The results demonstrate that the TAA loop lesions, the apurinic site and 8-oxoadenine substituting for adenine, and the 5-hydroxymethyluracil substituting for thymine only marginally disturb the formation of iM. The presence of uracil, which is formed by enzymatic or spontaneous deamination of cytosine, shifts iM formation towards substantially more acidic pH values and simultaneously distinctly reduces iM stability. This effect depends on the position of the damage sites in the sequence. The results have enabled us to formulate additional rules for iM formation.

Ionizing radiation produces clustered damage to DNA which is difficult to repair and thus more harmful than single lesions. Clustered lesions have only been investigated in dsDNA models. Introducing the term 'clustered damage to G-quadruplexes' we report here on the structural effects of multiple tetrahydrofuranyl abasic sites replacing loop adenines (A/AP) and tetrad guanines (G/AP) in quadruplexes formed by the human telomere d[AG3(TTAG3)3] (htel-22) and d[TAG3(TTAG3)3TT] (htel-25) in K+ solutions. Single to triple A/APs increased the population of parallel strands in their structures by stabilizing propeller type loops, shifting the antiparallel htel-22 into hybrid or parallel quadruplexes. In htel-25, the G/APs inhibited the formation of parallel strands and these adopted antiparallel topologies. Clustered G/AP and A/APs reduced the thermal stability of the wild-type htel-25. Depending on position, A/APs diminished or intensified the damaging effect of the G/APs. Taken together, clustered lesions can disrupt the topology and stability of the htel quadruplexes and restrict their conformational space. These in vitro results suggest that formation of clustered lesions in the chromosome capping structure can result in the unfolding of existing G-quadruplexes which can lead to telomere shortening., (© The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.)

Objective: The detection of p16 in oncocytology and in the surgical pathology of the uterine cervix., Setting: Department of Pathology and Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, University Hospital Brno., Methods: An imunocytochemical and immunohistochemical analysis of formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded samples of the uterine cervix (included knips biopsies) and liquid based smears was performed. The bioptic database included 7 cases of CIN II-III, 5 cases of reactive epithelial changes and 3 cases of atrophic epithelium. 36 liquid based smears, 25 cases of CIN III and 11 cases of uterine cervix without a dysplastic lesion., Results: Nuclear and cytoplasmatic p16 positivity was found in 22 cases of CIN III in liquid based smears. Diffuse and intensive p16 expression was in 5 cases of knips biopsies CIN III., Conclusion: The detection of p16 seems to be a valuable tool in surgical pathology of the uterine cervix: possible evaluation of the surgical margins, differential diagnosis regarding reactive atypia, and it is also prospective in oncocytologic diagnosis regarding differential diagnosis of the ASCUS, or can be used in monitoring of the uterine cervix dysplasia.

The laboratory was engaged in exfoliative cytology, mainly of sputa and investigated 1450 hospitalized patients and 1410 smokers in a screening campaign during the last year. Another programme included cytology of bronchoscopical materials (2480 patients a year), fine needle aspiration cytology (550 patients), and peroperation cytology, mostly pulmonary and mammary (125 patients). A limited number of exfoliative and bronchoscopical materials could have been examined in correlation with the number of medical technologists for screening and preliminary evaluation. The laboratory shared immunochemical facilities and computerized registration of results with the others in the Institute. For future, the laboratory reckons with an increase of aspirations taken by visualization methods and with development of special technologies of material processing and evaluation.